An On-Board Camera-Based Localization Solution

Abstract

Robotic systems offer unique capabilities if they can successfully interact with their surrounding environment. Much research has gone into control systems and path planning algorithms, whereas, this research is concerned with determining where the vehicle is located in space. For robotic systems, answering the question, “Where am I?” is of utmost importance, because navigation and controls are not possible without addressing this fundamental requirement. There are currently two widely implemented solutions that provide localization information: GPS and VICON camera systems. Each has desirable characteristics as well as severe limitations for different applications. The goal was to design a system that can work both indoors and outdoors, run at a speed comparable to a GPS receiver (10 Hz), and provide accuracy sufficient for the quadrotor flights (3-5 cm). The solution described in this research utilizes a single, small web camera pointed toward a fixed landmark. The camera looks for colors and shapes associated with the landmark, and then determines the position of the vehicle based on the location and distance of the detected landmark. The final localization system design will have a single camera mounted under the quadrotor, which is pointed forward and mounted on a gimbal to actively track the landmark. This approach offers several advantages over GPS and VICON localization, because this system works both indoors and outdoors, delivers more accuracy than GPS at a comparable speed, and easily expands to suit larger lab spaces.